Virgin Galactic revenue misses estimates, will focus on Delta ships

VIRGIN Galactic Holdings fourth-quarter revenue fell short of Wall Street expectations as the space tourism company works to rein in costs and slow its launch schedule while developing a new spaceplane.

Revenue in the period was US$2.8 million according to a statement on Tuesday (Feb 27), below the US$2.98 million in analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales were driven by commercial spaceflight operations and membership fees from future astronauts.

The company lost 26 US cents a share in the fourth quarter on an adjusted basis, better than the 32 US cent deficit in analysts expected.

Full-year revenue of US$6.8 million was below the US$7 million Wall Street expected. Revenue for the first quarter of 2024 is expected to be some US$2 million, the company said.

The firm said it would be “completing the build-out of our spaceship factory”, assembling its Delta ships and focusing on long-term growth.

Virgin Galactic fell 6.8 per cent at 5.38 pm in New York in after-hours trading.

The results highlight Virgin’s slow but steady path to establishing a routine cadence of spaceflights for paying customers. The Richard Branson-founded company has sent six missions to the edge of space since it began commercial operations in the middle of last year.

The company said it planned to pause flights in the latter portion of this year to keep costs under control while it develops its next-generation Delta spaceplane. The vehicle will be optimised for reusability and quick turnaround times between flights, the company has said. It plans to enter them into operation starting in 2026. Virgin Galactic revealed the plans in November as it cut about 185 jobs.

Virgin Galactic suffered a setback when it revealed earlier this month that a pin used to align its VSS Unity spaceplane and the VMS Eve carrier aircraft became detached during a crewed mission in January. The issue did not pose a safety risk, the company has said, but it prompted a Virgin Galactic-led mishap investigation overseen by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Virgin Galactic said its next commercial spaceflight was planned for the second quarter of 2024. BLOOMBERG